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<h1 align="center"><span class="pagetitle">HTML 2.0</span><br>
<font size=2>= <span class="sitetitle">Index DOT Html/Css</span> by <a href="../misc/email.htm">Brian Wilson</a> =</font></h1>

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     <big><b class="mainheading">Statistics</b></big>
     <hr width="30%" align=left>
     <dl>
     <dt><b class="subheading">Authors:</b> Tim Berners-Lee, Dan Connolly, Karen Muldrow
     <dt><b class="subheading">Specifications:</b>
         <dd>DTDs - <a href="http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/html-spec/html-pubtext.html">http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/html-spec/html-pubtext.html</a>
         <dd>Documentation - <a href="http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/html-spec/html-spec_toc.html">http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/html-spec/html-spec_toc.html</a>
     <dt><b class="subheading">Timeline:</b>
         <dd>- Draft defining HTML released (Internet draft later expired) - June, 1993
         <dd>- Initial document for 'HTML 2.0' released by Dan Connolly - April, 1994
         <dd>- Draft for HTML 2.0 cleaned up by Karen Muldrow and released - July, 1994
         <dd>- HTML 2.0 draft further refined with plans to release as an RFC -
             February, 1995
         <dd>- HTML 2.0 (RFC 1866) approved as a proposed standard - September 22, 1995
     </dl>

     <big><b class="mainheading">Before HTML 2.0 -<br>
     The Struggle to Create a Standard</b></big>
     <hr width="40%" align=left>
     Before HTML 2.0 was officially defined, several attempts had been made to
     codify the language. Many conferences and mailing list discussions (on
     'www-talk' and later 'www-html') document the frequently changing
     capabilities of the HTML language. In January, 1992 the first public
     release of CERN's text-mode browser (version 1.1) was released. By this
     time, a library of code consisting of the basic web browser building blocks
     was commonly available. Within a short time, many browsers had appeared
     that often had differing features and HTML capabilities. This helped
     to fracture the already unstandardized HTML language even further.
     <br><br>

     In April 1993, Tim Berners-Lee gave responsibility for the HTML language
     to Dave Raggett. This resulted in the release in June, 1993 of an
     internet draft document by Berners-Lee and Raggett for the
     'Hypertext Markup Language, Ver 1.0.'
     One of the main tenets in this proposal was:

     <blockquote class="quotation">&quot;Any standard must not make existing
     documents (as far as possible) unreadable.&quot;</blockquote>

     The HTML 1.0 Internet Draft later expired while the noise continued about
     solidifying HTML. To complicate matters, yet more continental drift had
     occurred in the language in the intervening months since HTML 1.0's
     arrival. New features were still being added to browsers to accommodate
     new HTML features such as fill out form support, and server-side image
     mapping.
     <br><br>

     <big><b class="mainheading">The Development of HTML 2.0</b></big>
     <hr width="40%" align=left>
     A strong voice in the effort to codify HTML using proper SGML was Dan
     Connolly, who had previous experience with online documentation tools
     and formal systems. In April 1994, Dan Connolly created a new draft
     for the language, then named 'HTML 2.0' (note: he has since been the
     primary author and editor for much of the HTML standards material that
     has been created to date.) This initial draft was soon revamped and
     rewritten by Karen Muldrow in July 1994 and subsequently was presented
     at an IETF meeting that summer in Toronto. The primary focus of this
     draft was to capture common HTML practice in web browsers as of June 1994.
     <br><br>

     A HyperText Markup Language Working Group was then created to help
     shepherd the ratification process. This time, the proposal stuck. The
     proposal was further refined into an
     <a href="../misc/glossary.htm#intdraft">Internet Draft</a> (RFC 1866) which
     became a proposed standard near the end of September, 1995. By the
     time HTML 2.0 was ratified, most browsers fully supported it.
     <br><br>

     <big><b class="mainheading">HTML Conformance Levels</b></big>
     <hr width="40%" align=left>
     The World Wide Web workshop in 1994 decided that HTML could be broken
     down into several &quot;levels.&quot; These levels would indicate that
     an HTML parsing mechanism capable of implementing a given level would
     be required to also implement levels below it. Therefore, the '2.0' in
     'HTML 2.0' was initially meant to be a conformance level indicator to
     represent browser capabilities rather than a historical version number.
     <dl>
     <dt><b class="subheading">Level 0</b>
         <dd>Mandatory for all browsers to support. Included features such as
             Headings, lists, anchors, etc. This provides the least differences
             in presentation between platforms.
     <dt><b class="subheading">Level 1</b>
         <dd>Includes all level 0 features plus in-line image support, and text
             emphasis (semantic and physical.)
     <dt><b class="subheading">Level 2</b>
         <dd>Fill out Forms support. This capability was not widely implemented
             at the time and needed more effort to be supported in a browser.
     <dt><b class="subheading">Level 3</b>
         <dd>Included features not then implemented in browsers such as tables,
             figures and breaking normal text flow.
     </dl>
     <br>


<big><b class="mainheading">Why it is important</b></big>
<hr width="40%" align=left>
HTML 2.0 was the base standard by which all browsers were measured
until HTML 3.2. Its properties define the basic working abilities
of almost all current browsers. This standard is also the benchmark
that was in effect during the great explosion of popularity of the web.
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